Netflix Now Offers Unlimited Parental Leave to Its Employees

Too bad Netflix doesn’t have an office (let alone a presence) here in the Philippines, because they’ve just announced that they will be offering unlimited maternity and paternity leave to its employees.

Yes, you read that right. That’s unlimited parental leave which can be used until the child’s first birthday. And with full pay, too.

“We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances. Parents can return part-time, full-time, or return and then go back out as needed. We’ll just keep paying them normally, eliminating the headache of switching to state or disability pay.”

All this applies to adopting parents as well.

Netflix, a video-streaming company based in the U.S., already offers unlimited time off to its employees, letting them decide how much vacation time they’re going to take. This new policy seems to follow from that same line of thinking.

However, some aren’t so sure about letting employees decide how much workdays they’re going to skip. As Huffington Post executive editor for business and technology Emily Peck wrote, “The policy sounds great in theory, but has been criticized for actually leading workers to take less time off for fear of being viewed as not that hard-charging.”

Nevertheless, more and more big name companies (Vodafone, Virgin, Nestlé and IBM) are stepping up their game in providing for better parental benefits to its employees. It’s a new trend that we welcome with open arms.